Abbott finally reads Slipper judgment

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he has now read the judgment in the Peter Slipper and James Ashby case, and still stands by Mal Brough.

Mr Abbott came under fire this week for saying he had not read the judgment handed down last Wednesday because he had been "doing very important things for Australia" in the United Kingdom.

The judgment found Mr Brough, the coalition's candidate for Mr Slipper's Queensland seat of Fisher, had worked in "combination" with Mr Ashby to politically damage the former speaker by lodging the case.

When asked in Sydney on Thursday whether he had read the judgment, Mr Abbott said he had.